The grapes for the Dry Riesling were sourced from all three vineyards of the Hermann J. Wiemer estate and for the first time winemaker Fred Merwarth used only spontaneous fermentation for all of his Riesling and Gewürztraminer wines. Each Riesling lot from the three vineyards was fermented separately and the finals wines were then blended together to create the dry estate Riesling. The last of the Riesling tanks stopped fermenting in August 2011, a rather long primary fermentation!
The result is exciting. The 2010 dry Riesling is very perfumed and floral on the nose, the fruit aroma is luscious and accentuated by spices, so concentrated that they are almost reminiscent of a Gewürztraminer. Hints of sweet citrus fruit round up a complex aroma.
The Riesling is dry on the palate, has medium acidity and medium alcohol. Concentrated flavors of bitter grapefruit and apricot, spicy and positively baroque. Medium length with a mineral and peppery finish.
This spontaneously fermented Riesling is the most expressive dry estate Rieslings of Wiemer I have tasted. The warm growing season of the 2010 vintage shows well in the moist ripeness of the fruit and sufficient acidity balances its ornate style.